Hear me out - where Red's going with this team

[OttoinGrotto]

I think I figured it out. Red's got the white lab coat on and is playing mad scientist with this roster. Here's what's bubblin':

We're going to run two lines. Think of hockey. There will be a bomber line, and a push line.

The bomber line goes...

PG - Starling
2G - Taylor/Moore
SF - Bell
PF - Freeman
C - Eddie Lampkin Dry Rub

This is a pick your poison offensive lineup that works inside out for Lampkin Dry Rub low lift buckets and perimeter bombs. Very difficult to guard for the full shot clock without giving up a clean look somewhere on the court to someone.

The push line goes...

PG - Carlos
2G - Cuffe
3G - Westry
PF - Davis
C - McCleod

As Coach Carter said, this lineup is out there to run. On defense they throw a lot of pressure at ballhandlers, and on offense they get the ball up court in a hurry for transition buckets. The destination always ends at the rim (on both ends of the floor) but there's a lot of creativity to the journey.

Teams will struggle to compete with the contrast. Most games we'll need both to click. But it imposes a matchup in our favor either way.

 

[tptcuse]

I think I figured it out. Red's got the white lab coat on and is playing mad scientist with this roster. Here's what's bubblin':

We're going to run two lines. Think of hockey. There will be a bomber line, and a push line.

The bomber line goes...

PG - Starling
2G - Taylor/Moore
SF - Bell
PF - Freeman
C - Eddie Lampkin Dry Rub

This is a pick your poison offensive lineup that works inside out for Lampkin Dry Rub low lift buckets and perimeter bombs. Very difficult to guard for the full shot clock without giving up a clean look somewhere on the court to someone.

The push line goes...

PG - Carlos
2G - Cuffe
3G - Westry
PF - Davis
C - McCleod

As Coach Carter said, this lineup is out there to run. On defense they throw a lot of pressure at ballhandlers, and on offense they get the ball up court in a hurry for transition buckets. The destination always ends at the rim (on both ends of the floor) but there's a lot of creativity to the journey.

Teams will struggle to compete with the contrast. Most games we'll need both to click. But it imposes a matchup in our favor either way.

 

[Eric15]

I think I figured it out. Red's got the white lab coat on and is playing mad scientist with this roster. Here's what's bubblin':

We're going to run two lines. Think of hockey. There will be a bomber line, and a push line.

The bomber line goes...

PG - Starling
2G - Taylor/Moore
SF - Bell
PF - Freeman
C - Eddie Lampkin Dry Rub

This is a pick your poison offensive lineup that works inside out for Lampkin Dry Rub low lift buckets and perimeter bombs. Very difficult to guard for the full shot clock without giving up a clean look somewhere on the court to someone.

The push line goes...

PG - Carlos
2G - Cuffe
3G - Westry
PF - Davis
C - McCleod

As Coach Carter said, this lineup is out there to run. On defense they throw a lot of pressure at ballhandlers, and on offense they get the ball up court in a hurry for transition buckets. The destination always ends at the rim (on both ends of the floor) but there's a lot of creativity to the journey.

Teams will struggle to compete with the contrast. Most games we'll need both to click. But it imposes a matchup in our favor either way.

I'll see this lineup... [wait for it]... in heaven.

 

[DoctahLexus]

I will try to not be too dramatic and call that the worst cuse starting lineup of all time, but barring 3 or 4 of those guys looking like different players next season, this is the worst defensive starting lineup of all time.

 

[MamesJungro]

Here's to hoping that we play JJ/Bell/Chance/Freeman/Lampkin most of the time and it works out ok

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Here's to hoping that we play JJ/Bell/Chance/Freeman/Lampkin most of the time and it works out ok

I think there's a scenario where that gets our 5 best guys on the floor, definitely.

 

[Cusefan0307]

That bomber lineup is very JB like and very weak on ball handling. I like what Red has done as far as upping our recruiting profile, but he does make some JB like lineup decisions that I can't say I agree with.

 

[Niastri]

I think there's a scenario where that gets our 5 best guys on the floor, definitely.

They certainly will score. Enough to win? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Maybe somebody can research how many times in Syracuse history the team has scored 90+ and lost.

We can have that be the over/under on times it happens this season.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

That bomber lineup is very JB like and very weak on ball handling. I like what Red has done as far as upping our recruiting profile, but he does make some JB like lineup decisions that I can't say I agree with.

Yeah our roster and how guys fit together seems to make more sense this upcoming season, but I don't think it's ideal yet.

 

[jordoo]

I'm not big on being a Debbie downer or poopooing the team before we have seen them play. I understand that both offense and defense systems/scheme may look very different compared to last year. I like the high school recruiting and the portal guys. I'm generally positive about the group of players as a whole and the staffs ability to build on last year to get to the NCAA tourney.
That said this talk of JJ starting at PG has me unsettled on next years outlook. I am not looking forward to any minute of SU bball where JJ is the PG. He's a good player but he's a scoring guard who showed poor court awareness when handling the ball in traffic. How many times did we watch JJ dribble past a defender, forget they were there and get his pocket picked? He's a scoring guard who looks to score when attacking rather than pass. I think JJ could have an excellent season playing his position. I feel like starting him at the PG spot highlights his weaknesses and negates his strengths. To me its putting him in a position to fail. I hope I am wrong and he's up to the task but no matter what angle I try to view it I cringe on the inside.

 

[Jzsshuttles]

Taylor isn't starting over Westry

 

[CLTCuse]

The number one need coming into the off season was an acc caliber point guard. And that remains the gaping hole in any lineup.

I hope westry is healthy and Carlos is way better than the backup role the coaches had him pegged for.

The first lineup lacks a pg and the second lineup is lol bad.

This year is gonna be an adventure.

 

[Orangezoo]

The number one need coming into the off season was an acc caliber point guard. And that remains the gaping hole in any lineup.

I hope westry is healthy and Carlos is way better than the backup role the coaches had him pegged for.

The first lineup lacks a pg and the second lineup is lol bad.

This year is gonna be an adventure.

The biggest need was a balanced offense not full of holes and ball movers. True PG helps that but overall we needed a team vs a bunch of ball hogs. That issue has been addressed. It’s a roster with questions regarding health and proving itself but it’s also intriguing

 

[two3zone]

The biggest need was a balanced offense not full of holes and ball movers. True PG helps that but overall we needed a team vs a bunch of ball hogs. That issue has been addressed. It’s a roster with questions regarding health and proving itself but it’s also intriguing

I think the biggest need was defense. I don't know if we're much better in that department.

 

[Cuse House]

I have thought a lot about the make up of this team and I think I have settled on my early opinion. The team overall I believe is better than last years team simply because of the added size and more guys playing their natural positions (PG unseen). With that said, I believe the ceiling is limited. This team has a lot more veteran players that won't lose several games by 30 points and will hopefully have a better locker room environment. Not sure we have the defensive assets to really compete at the top of the league, but I expect offense to be improved and well balanced. 2nd round of the NCAA tournament would be a resounding success. I think more likely we are flirting with the bubble all year, coming down to the last few weeks.

 

[Niastri]

I think the biggest need was defense. I don't know if we're much better in that department.

The biggest need was rebounding (and size in the middle, a little bit of the same thing).

After McLeod was injured (and secondarily Williams was kicked off the team a few games later) we went 10-8.

We were out rebounded in 16 of those 18 games.

In our 10 wins, we averaged a deficit of "only" 4.4 rebounds. In our losses, we averaged a 12.9 rebounding deficit.

If you take out the crazy 94-92 Win against Louisville, where we dominated literally every stat but rebounding (a crazy-19), the average of rebounding deficit in the other 9 wins was only 2.8.

We desperately needed to be able to rebound to get wins. McLeod and Williams were our two best rebounders by defensive rebounding % and with them gone we couldn't stop anybody.

Lampkin, Freeman, Davis and a healthy McLeod goes a long way to helping that deficit.

Playing bad defense is one thing... Playing bad defense and also giving the other team extra tries every possession is a killer.

I have faith our defense this year will be bad, but that at least we will collect our share of rebounds.

 

[Orangezoo]

I think the biggest need was defense. I don't know if we're much better in that department.

I should have clarified I meant the biggest offensive need not overall need

 

[cuseincincy]

Here's to hoping that we play JJ/Bell/Chance/Freeman/Lampkin most of the time and it works out ok

Davis, Taylor and Moore are next up imo. Carlos's time will be determined by JJ and Chance's ability to handle and distribute. I've got no problem getting up for this team. It may not be perfect but it's certainly got enough talent to say "why not us?" LGO!